[Info-vax] The (now lost) future of Alpha.

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 07/31/2018 09:17 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 7/31/2018 4:47 AM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>> On 2018-07-31 01:44, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> On 7/30/2018 1:39 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>>> Isn't RATFOR a kind of compiler that reads RAT and emits
>>>> an intermediate language resembling Fortran?  :-)
>>>
>>> I assume it is joke.
>>>
>>> RAT stands for RATional.
>>>
>>> And it outputs valid Fortran.
>>
>> I don't see why you would think it's a joke.
> 
> I assume it was a joke about "rat" also being a generaly
> despised animal.
> 
>>                                            It's a very appropriate 
>> description of the RATFOR compiler. It takes a language as input, and 
>> outputs another as output, just like any compiler.
> 
> Yes.
> 
> But I don't think the input is RAT.
> 
>>                                               And it's a compiler 
>> written in FORTRAN. Which was the point. You can write a compiler in 
>> FORTRAN, and RATFOR is an example of such a compiler.
> 
> Yes. Indeed.
> 
>> The fact that the intermediate language is FORTRAN is hardly making a 
>> difference.
> 
> I think the fact that it is Fortran and not something resembling Fortran
> is sort of relevant.
> 

OK, OK, it was a joke...

RATFOR -- input RAT output FOR.

And I didn't even think of vermin when I wrote that.  I have done RATFOR
and think it was a very elegant solution to a common problem.

bill